He Stabbed A 20-Year-Old In The Heart. He Will Serve That Sentence At Home.
Angelo Namba was declared dead on arrival at hospital.
Two stab wounds. One of them to the heart. He was 20 years old, working at a local factory, and telling anybody who would listen that he wanted to be a law enforcement officer.
Four years later, the man convicted of killing him walked out of the Mitchells Plain Regional Court with a six-year sentence — wholly suspended.
Now Mitchells Plain is refusing to let that stand.
The Sentence
Chadwin Timm was convicted of culpable homicide over the 2022 death of Angelo "Storm" Namba in Rocklands.
He was sentenced earlier this week.
| Detail |
Information
|
|---|---|
| Convicted | Chadwin Timm |
| Charge | Culpable homicide |
| Victim | Angelo "Storm" Namba, 20 |
| Where | Rocklands, Mitchells Plain |
| When | 2022 |
| Court | Mitchells Plain Regional Court |
| Sentence | 6 years — wholly suspended |
| Suspension condition | Must not commit culpable homicide or assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm during the suspension period |
| Additional | 12 months' correctional supervision |
| House arrest | 24 hours a day, Sunday to Sunday |
| Prison time | None |
He does not go to prison. He goes home, and stays there.
The Night It Happened
Namba's grandmother, Jennifer Simonpong, has carried this for four years.
She remembers the sound of her son's voice more clearly than anything else.
"That night, I heard my son screaming: 'Mommy, I think Chad stabbed Storm.' We called him Storm."
They put him in a car and drove.
"We rushed him to hospital, but he had been stabbed in the heart."
He never made it.
From Murder To Culpable Homicide
For the family, the sentence was not even the first blow. The charge was.
"That is why it was such a shock for me when they said it was not murder and changed it to culpable homicide."
Culpable homicide means the court found the killing unlawful but negligent rather than intentional. Unlike murder, it carries no minimum sentence — which is precisely how a six-year term can end up fully suspended.
Simonpong says the courtroom went out from under her.
"I became ill in the courtroom. I felt I could not hear or see. We are going to appeal the sentence."
Four Years Of Walking To Court
The case did not just take a life. It took four years of the family's life with it.
"I cannot explain what he has done to us. I had to deal with his death. It has been four years of walking to court, and it has caused so much stress for my other son, who also suffered a heart attack."
A grandson buried. A son who had a heart attack under the strain. And a sentence that ends at somebody's front door.
The Community Is Stepping In
Linda Jones, a court-watch official and member of the Mitchells Plain United Residents Association (MURA), confirmed the organisation will help the family fight the sentence on appeal.
"MURA is very disturbed by this sentence. As an organisation, we feel this was a very bad decision by the magistrate — to impose a sentence that does not involve imprisonment," Jones said.
Her bigger fear is what the ruling teaches everybody watching.
"We feel it is going to send the wrong message to perpetrators, especially young people who are committing these crimes, by making them think they can get away with it."
What Happens Next
The family, backed by MURA, intends to appeal the sentence.
An appeal against sentence asks a higher court to find the punishment shockingly inappropriate or the result of a misdirection by the trial court. It is not a retrial — it is an argument that the outcome does not fit the loss.
In the meantime, Chadwin Timm remains under house arrest, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for 12 months.
The Part That Stays With You
Angelo Namba wanted to wear a uniform and keep people safe on the same streets where he was stabbed.
He was 20. He had a job. He had a plan. He had a nickname his family still uses in the present tense.
"We called him Storm."
Four years on, his grandmother is still walking to court — this time to ask a higher court whether a life taken in Rocklands is worth more than a year of house arrest.
